


Bouquets for the Beautiful

by demoncow97



Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Background Lucifer/Diavolo, Flower Crowns, Fluff, Getting Together, Gift Exchange, Gift Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28231308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demoncow97/pseuds/demoncow97
Summary: Aster is getting some mixed signals from his newest regular customer.Asmo just wants to date the cute flower shop boy without his brothers getting in the way.
Relationships: Asmodeus (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	Bouquets for the Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> A gift fic for the Obey Me Secret Santa event 2020 for @travel_at_night! I really hope you like it!

Today had been record breaking for how dead the shop had been. One desperate woman looking for a last-minute bouquet and an older couple who perused the selection of pre-potted plants served as the only real customers the flower shop had seen all day.

Aster should probably be more bothered by the lack of revenue but once and a while it was nice to not be at the beck and call of every person who walked in. Days like this meant Aster could spend just a bit longer with the plants in his care, making sure each one was receiving the attention it deserved.

The light hum of music playing over the store’s speaker was enough to fill the otherwise silent space as Aster repotted a particularly confined looking aloe vera plant. He patted the fresh soil along to the beat of the melody, pushing around the base of the plant evenly on all sides for good measure. With the aloe vera looking happier in its larger space, Aster clapped his dirt covered gloves together and picked it up to move it back to its display.

The light jingle of the door chime had Aster looking over his shoulder.

A single man enters, phone in hand and an outfit that screamed something along the lines of _I’m sexy and I know it_ or _yes these shoes cost more than you make in a month._ Aster would roll his eyes, but admittedly even from where he stood, the guy clearly had the looks to pull it off.

The man in question, with champagne coloured hair that shone like it’d gone through every product the hair salon had in stock, took a quick look around the place before strolling toward the display with the peonies, sweet peas and other extremely bright flowers.

Placing the plant he’d still been holding down, Aster wiped some excess dirt onto his apron and walked toward the customer.

“Is there anything I can help you with today,” he asked, customer service voice turned on.

The customer turned around, giving Aster an obvious look-over, and then widened the already happy smile on his face.

“Yes, you most certainly can~” the customer replied cheerfully with an easy wink. “I need an expert’s help.”

Aster raised a brow, surprised at how forward the guy was being, but easily adjusted. With a closer look, Aster could say that this guy had to be a model of some kind, with a confident air about his smile.

And well… if a really hot maybe-model wanted to flirt with him, who was he not to go along with it?

“How may I be of service?” Aster responded easily, a small smile on his lips.

“Well you see, there are so many beautiful flowers here--” the customer gestured to the display behind him but kept his eyes firmly on Aster, “--and I just can’t seem to decide which to get,” the man explained vaguely.

“Are they for any particular occasion?” Aster asked, intrigued.

The customer hummed, biting his lip lightly as if considering the question.

“No occasion really, but they are for the most beautiful person in the world, so they’ll have to be special,” the customer said.

Aster felt… confused. Those were some mixed signals all right.

He typically prided on being able to read the atmosphere, but apparently he’d been off the mark this time. In his defense, this guy was laying it on pretty thick for someone buying flowers for who was probably his partner.

“Okay, gotcha,” Aster responded, switching over into purely business mode. He walked over to a vase of flowers with varying colours.

“Carnations here symbolize beauty and pride in general, but their exact meaning changes depending on the colour,” Aster explained easily, the knowledge just second nature at this point.

The symbolism of flowers had always been interesting to Aster, and while it had started as a hobby, had quickly evolved into his favourite pastime. It was one of the main reasons he’d started the flower shop to begin with. It wasn’t that he was bragging about his vast knowledge of flower meanings, but it was fun to share and the intrigued looks he got when others listened made him happy.

“Wow, cute and smart!” the customer remarked, leaving Aster confused once again. But before he could think too much about it, the man continued. “I don’t think these are the ones though. They’re pretty and all, but pride makes me think of my brother and that just won’t do.”

“Hopefully we can find some flowers that don’t make you think about your brother then,” Aster said with a small laugh.

“Yes please. I already see him enough as is, I don’t need him spiritually nagging me through flowers too.”

Aster smiled at the dramatics and walked over to another colourful display.

“Well, these are Amaryllis, which symbolize beauty and determination. There’s less choice colour wise, but if you like reds and pinks then they’re a good choice,” Aster pointed out.

The customer’s eyes sparkled at the Amaryllis.

“They’re perfect!” he exclaimed excitedly. “The pink ones are absolutely gorgeous! I’ll take your largest bouquet!”

Aster nodded, happy they’d found a flower so quickly.

“Is there any particular foliage or secondary flowers you’d like in the bouquet to compliment them?” Aster asked.

“No no, they’re already perfect, they don’t need anything plain sitting beside them to make them shine.”

And with the customer so passionate on the matter, Aster wasn’t going to say anything.

Collecting the flowers, cutting down the stems and wrapping them into a bouquet was easy work for Aster, being practiced enough by now, but he still took care not to go too fast and damage any of the flowers.

With the large, and admittedly expensive, bouquet of Amaryllis ready to go, Aster escorted the customer to the till.

“So, you think your ‘most beautiful person’ is going to be happy with these?” Aster asked while the customer payed with a credit card.

“Oh, they already are,” the customer said in a sing-song voice.

Aster wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that, but let it slide.

“Well I’m glad someone is going to appreciate them,” Aster said honestly.

With a ding and a receipt printing, the customer’s bright eyes met his.

“And _I_ very much appreciate your help today, and would love a name to match the face,” the customer said with a flirtatious smile.

At this point Aster gave up on piecing together the puzzle that was this interaction and decided to just go with it.

“It’s Aster,” he replied not bluntly, but not as smoothly as he could have.

“Aster,” the customer repeated as if testing the word out. “Well I’m Asmodeus, but you can call me Asmo when I come around next time.”

Next time? Aster wasn’t sure if he could keep up with another attack of mixed signals, but…

… he wasn’t against the overly flirty man coming back.

“I’ll look forward to it, Asmo,” Aster replied, earning him a real smile to replace the flirtatious grin from before.

And with a final goodbye from Asmodeus, which consisted of another wink, Aster was left alone once again in the flower shop.

He mentally analyzed the interaction again, and came to one clear conclusion.

This Asmodeus guy was a heartbreaker.

With a practiced smile and eyes that knew exactly how good-looking they were. With words that were sickly sweet and a laugh that made you want to join in.

But even with these obvious flags, Aster found himself intrigued. There was something shockingly genuine in the otherwise generic flattery Asmodeus wielded that set him apart from your run of the mill player.

It was a dangerous game to play, but Aster knew the rules and found himself oddly excited for the next round.

***

Aster didn’t have to wait long until Asmo made his promised return. In fact, in the two weeks since their first encounter, Asmo had dropped by close to every second day.

It confirmed a few things Aster had already been thinking about the man.

The first being the guy clearly had money. Every time he came by he’d get a new bouquet, all relating to the concept of beauty in some way. A nice bouquet was not cheap, but Asmo never so much as asked the price of the plants he purchased, picking them instead through the details about the flower’s meaning Aster would tell him. Sometimes Asmo wouldn’t even look at the flowers and picked the species blindly if Aster’s description enthralled him enough. It was pretty cute.

Secondly, Asmodeus might have proven to be the most relentless flirt Aster had ever met. He never hesitated to call Aster a “cutie,” and was already passing along his number during their third meeting. Aster returned the flirting in kind, with smooth but honest words, which had earned him a blush or two (he considered these huge victories considering how shameless the recipient could be), but there was always a slight hesitation in the back of his head.

This hesitation stemmed from the fact that each and every time Asmodeus bought flowers, he insisted they were for his ‘most beautiful person.’ It was more than a little confusing, and a point Aster had asked about, only to get a laugh and a response of “you know who I’m talking about.” If Aster knew, he wouldn’t have asked.

This whole debacle was made worse by the fact that despite trying to stick to the path of harmless flirting, Aster may have accidentally developed a crush on his new ridiculous regular.

It was hard not to with the easy conversations, spanning from Aster complaining about the day’s worth of annoying customers to Asmo’s gossip over his brothers’ love lives. It was oftentimes the highlight of Aster’s day, which scared him a little considering he was unsure where the other stood. But most of the time Aster could pack those thoughts away and go about his days as normal, waiting for the next chime of the doors to see what type of person was going to show up next.

Today the jingle of the door brought with it the familiar face of Asmo, who smiled upon seeing him with a cheerful wave. Only this time, Asmo had not come alone.

Trailing after Asmodeus was another man with a stern face and in a full suit.

Could this man be the one getting all Asmo’s flowers? He was good looking in a wealthy businessman kind of way, although not quite at Asmodeus’ level if Aster was being honest.

“Aster, I’m so happy to see you~” Asmo skipped toward him.

A few other customers in the store looked over and Aster thought he saw them gawk at the two men who’d just entered.

Aster didn’t blame them.

“Hi Asmo,” Aster greeted. “Already here for another bouquet? The lilies you bought yesterday not enough to tie over your special someone?”

“The lilies are being well loved thank you very much,” Asmo retorted. “But no, actually today I’m being a good brother and helping out with Lucifer’s lack-lustre love life.”

The man in the suit, judging by the glare he sent Asmo’s way, was Lucifer.

Definitely not the flower recipient then.

“I would appreciate you not spreading unfounded gossip to strangers, Asmo,” Lucifer warned as he approached them.

“Aster isn’t a stranger!” Asmo defended. “He and I are very close!”

Lucifer gave Aster a look that he couldn’t read.

“I do hope Asmo has not been bothering you,” Lucifer said.

“He’s no bother. Asmo and I are friends,” Aster confirmed with a smile. “I like it when he comes by.”

Asmo shot an ‘I told you so’ look Lucifer’s way. 

“I see,” Lucifer said, giving Aster a piercing look as if he could see through him. It wasn’t quite intimidating, but definitely unnerving.

“So umm, what can I help you with today?” Aster asked, staying more on the polite business side of things than he typically would with only Asmo around.

“Ooo Lucifer wants flowers for his—”

“My co-worker, or more specifically my superior. He recently closed a large deal, and I would like to get him a celebratory gift,” Lucifer cut his brother off. “Asmo speaks highly of this place and suggested I come by.”

Asmo talks about him? Aster risked a side-eye at Asmo who simply smiled at him.

Aster most definitely did not blush.

“Ah, well I’m glad you decided to come by. I have a few good options that might be what you’re looking for,” Aster explained, leading them both over to one of the more popular display cases.

Lucifer gazed intently at his options. Seeing that Lucifer seemed intent on picking something himself, Aster kept quiet, not wanting to be pushy. If the man wanted his help, he would ask.

While Lucifer was preoccupied, Aster leaned toward Asmodeus.

“So, what’s the real story here?” Aster pried, unable to keep the curiosity to himself.

The unrestrained excitement in his eyes meant that Asmo had been waiting to be asked.

“Well, Lucifer won’t say anything, but he’s had a thing for his boss Diavolo for like years now,” Asmo explained, voice apparently not loud enough to alert Lucifer. “I thought they were just keeping their relationship under wraps, but I saw Diavolo the other day and the pining in that poor man’s eyes was more obvious than the flawlessness of my skin.”

“Oof, poor guy. Lucifer doesn’t seem like the dense type though. Oh, is this that pride you mentioned before?” Aster asked.

“Yes! He’s stupidly stubborn, so I’ve taken it upon myself as the love expert to help.”

“How very kind of you,” Aster snorted.

“Of course! I can’t just sit back while these two clearly like each other,” Asmo justified. “Plus Diavolo is hot and Lucifer needs to get him some of that.”

Aster rolled his eyes.

“So, your type is the big in charge businessman then?” Aster asked, with a curiosity that was stronger than it should be.

He just wanted the gossip, alright? Asmo was clearly already in a happy relationship, continuous flirting or not, and Aster wasn’t going to encroach on it. Maybe this knowledge would help extinguish the small flicker of hope that Aster seemed unable to put out.

“No, no. I prefer the cute, sweet, witty type who speaks his mind even when he probably shouldn’t,” Asmo said with a bright smile, and face tinged the lightest pink. “Blue tips and grey eyes are a big plus too.”

Aster went wide eyed at the description, heart pounding a little too loudly in his ear.

But when he went to open his mouth in response, he was interrupted but none other than Lucifer.

“If you wouldn’t mind assisting me for a moment, I have some questions about some of these.”

Turning away reluctantly from Asmo, Aster met Lucifer’s eyes. He nodded, not trusting himself to open his mouth just yet.

He could feel Asmo’s eyes on him as he talked through the different options Lucifer had narrowed things down to.

In the end, Lucifer bought a bouquet consisting of Daffodils, symbolizing respect and admiration, with a couple Gerbera Daisies which, unbeknownst to Lucifer were the equivalent of saying ‘I love you’ in flower, for good measure. Aster also got to add the proper amount of foliage to this bouquet, unlike the one’s Asmo purchased.

Overall he was quite happy with the result. He was even more impressed with himself considering his mind had been playing Asmo’s words on replay the whole time rather than focusing on the task at hand.

With their business completed, Lucifer and Asmo left, Asmo waving and promising to see him soon.

Aster buried his face in his hands momentarily, groaning.

He was in way deeper than he thought.

***

In the week that followed, and with Asmo taking up coming by the shop _every day,_ Aster felt like he was going crazy.

He’d thought it over and decided asking Asmo directly about his intentions was the only way he was going to get over this stupid crush. Aster had thought with enough self-talks about how A _smo was already in a relationship_ he would be able to get over the whole thing, but that didn’t seem to be the case. It didn’t help that Asmo had been bringing him cute pastries from the bakery and fitting so many subtle touches into their interactions that Aster was definitely going crazy.

The issue with the planned confrontation was… every time Asmo had come by recently one of his many brothers seemed to be at his side. Every time Aster assumed Asmo had finally brought his special someone to the flower shop, and every time he was mistaken. To his credit, they looked nothing alike (but somehow were all good looking?), genetics were weird.

They were nice, if not chaotic enough to scare away some of the other customers (no really, Aster was pretty sure he’d seen the tallest one eating some of the flowers), and Aster would love to get to know them any other time. _But not until Aster had resolved this whole thing._ He wasn’t sure his heart could take much more.

Today seemed to be no exception, with Asmo showing up in the late afternoon, a cheerful smile and brother in tow. This brother had a blurry look to his eyes and yawned deeply as he trudged behind Asmodeus.

This was probably Belphegor then.

Aster smiled at Asmo, but could feel his brows twitching unconsciously.

“Aster! How is the second most handsome man I know doing?” Asmo asked, causing Aster to wince minutely.

“Way to make a guy feel special,” Aster deadpanned, earning him a laugh.

“Well, considering you know who’s first, I’d say you’re doing pretty good,” Asmo winked.

And no that didn’t make Aster feel any better.

“Whatever you say,” Aster said, eyeing Belphegor who seemed to sway as he wandered toward the fertilizer section.

“So, any nasty customers I need to give a talking to?” Asmo asked, hands holding something behind his back.

“Not today thankfully,” Aster answered. “Not too busy today.”

“Then you’ll have time to try on this cute addition to your uniform I made!” Asmo cheered, pulling his hands out from behind his back to reveal what he had been hiding.

In his hand was a flower crown, interlaced with many of the flowers Asmo had been purchasing this week. There were daisies, and lilies, but the most prominent were the roses whose stems had been carefully plucked of all thorns.

It was… beautiful.

The colours matched perfectly, and the crown itself was so symmetrical it almost looked fake.

But more so than that, the meaning behind the flowers… were all variations of confessing one’s affection.

“It’s… amazing,” Aster said, with a smile and cheeks he knew were red.

Asmo’s smiling face seemed to almost sparkle surrounded by the colours of the plants in the background.

“I’m so glad you like it.”

Then without another word, Asmo placed the crown gently onto Aster’s head, letting his hands linger in Aster’s hair long enough for him to notice.

They were standing close, making the blush on Asmo’s face all the more obvious. And for a moment they just existed like that, clearly within each other’s space, but not quite touching. It was a mixture of comfortable and maddening that Aster wasn’t sure what to do with.

“Asmo—” Aster began, voice soft.

But he stopped.

He couldn’t talk about this now, not with Asmo’s brother in the store. Aster was all for speaking his mind, but he knew well when the situation called for otherwise.

This thought went immediately out the window when out of the corner of his eye Aster saw Belphegor lying on top of some bags of fertilizer… sleeping, if the light rise and fall of his chest were anything to go by.

Who fell asleep in a flower shop?

If this didn’t give Aster the opportunity he’d been waiting for all week, he’d have more questions.

Asmo on the other hand, also seemed to see an opportunity, but not for an exchange of words.

Seeing Asmo’s eyes on his lips and Asmo’s head slowly but steadily leaning in, Aster wanted nothing more than to close the gap and taste whatever lip gloss Asmodeus had chosen today. The light pink shimmer made them look unfairly soft, and from here he could smell a light flowery scent from Asmo, and oh wow Asmo was inches away now but…

Aster lifted a finger to Asmo’s lips, effectively stopping him in place.

Asmo looked thoroughly baffled by this development, but there was no anger in his eyes. In fact, they almost held a glint of hurt to them.

“Asmo,” Aster began again, holding Asmo’s undivided attention in his gaze. “I really like you.”

The words had Asmo’s face lighting up.

“But,” Aster continued. “I don’t think I would be okay being second place to your other partner, and I don’t want to ruin your relationship, so maybe we should just stay friends.”

The words were honest, but they hurt to vocalize. This confrontation wasn’t quite worded the way he’d planned, and Aster still had questions, but the almost kiss had him a little off kilter.

He wasn’t sure what reaction he’d been expecting from Asmo. Maybe understanding? An accepting smile? At worst, maybe taking offense to his words.

But Asmodeus just looked confused.

“You think I’m dating someone else?” Asmo asked, a crease in his otherwise picture-perfect visage.

Now it was Aster’s turn to be confused.

“I mean… you talk about them every time you come in. You even tell the other customers about them,” Aster said, feeling strange that he had to explain this.

“Sweetie, the only person I’ve been gushing over nonstop lately is you,” Asmo said. “I mean, why else would my brothers all demand to meet you and interrupt the time I’d rather spend just the two of us?”

Aster opened his mouth but found himself in a rare state of speechlessness.

“Trust me, my silly brothers never usually bat an eye at the people I flirt with, but even they could tell that I already like you more than anyone else I’ve ever dated,” Asmo continued with a small smile.

“But what about your ‘most beautiful person’? The one you’re always buying the flowers for?” Aster finally found the words to ask what had been plaguing him this whole time.

Well he had asked before, but the answer had never cleared anything up.

This time though, Asmodeus seemed to understand exactly what Aster was saying. But as the understanding reached his eyes, Asmo burst into a fit of giggles.

“Y-you thought—” Asmo couldn’t finish the words, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes from the stream of laughter.

Aster mustered up all control to plaster an unimpressed look on his face, but the excited feeling at Asmo’s reaction was hard to push down. Outwardly, Aster stayed silent until Asmodeus’ laughter finally died down somewhat.

Then with a smile filled with equal parts joy and fondness, Asmo cupped Aster’s cheek with a soft hand.

“Oh honey, you’re so silly for someone so smart,” Asmo chided happily. “There’s no one else.”

“I don’t understand,” Aster admitted easily, running through all the possibilities is his head but coming up empty handed again.

Asmo traced his thumb along Aster’s cheek in a comforting motion.

“These flowers have all been gifts to myself, sweetheart,” Asmo explained. “Of course I needed the most beautiful flowers for my most beautiful self. I just got lucky and scored an equally beautiful and cute flower-shop boy along the way.”

Aster couldn’t decide if the happiness at the news was enough to overshadow how stupid he felt at the revelation.

Because _of course_ Asmo had been buying flowers for himself.

Even more stupid was that it was just so Asmo, that Aster had the nerve to find it endearing.

“You’re just lucky this flower-shop boy likes you,” Aster said, earning him a chuckle before he leaned in and took the kiss he had been so kindly offered earlier.

Asmo giggled a little against his lips, but otherwise the kiss was short and sweet and wow Asmo’s lips were somehow even softer than he’d imagined, was that even allowed? Aster would have happily continued to kiss Asmo if not for the fact that he was very much aware that he was in his place of business right now.

Even so, Aster pulled away slowly, the weight lifted off him even further by the gleeful look on Asmo’s face. Aster was pretty sure his own face looked similar.

After a beat of silence, Asmo took Aster’s hand and gave it a light squeeze.

“So, are there any flowers in here that would impress a floral expert enough to get me a date tonight?” Asmo asked with a wiggle of his brows.

Aster returned the squeeze and with his own grin said,

“I think I have the perfect thing in mind.”


End file.
